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During the era of the
Achaemenids, who ruled
a large empire with its capitals
in the southern parts of the
present day Iran, trade in the
Persian Gulf and the Sea of
Oman flourished. Ships sailed
to and fro between the ports
on the southern coasts of Iran,
on the coasts of India and in
Mesopotamia where the ports
were mostly along rivers,
namely the Euphrates, the Tigris
and the present day Arvand
River which was previously
known as Shat-ul-Arab. They
also sailed to some of the
islands in the Persian Gulf, the
richest of which was the present
Bahrain. The ship-owners were
themselves the masters (pilots)
of their vessels and the traders
of goods they bought and sold.
The ship-owners had a union
and cooperated with each other
closely. But at the beginning
they all worked for the states
and governments of the
region. The Achaemenids, for
example, had a large fleet and
extensive trade. However, as
time passed these governments
became more and more aware
of the futility of such a trade in
their own hands and allowed
the private sector to engage
in trade with all its risks,
the governments satisfying
themselves with taxes and dues
such as port duties, which were
often quite high.
The expansion of trade with
India turned Bahrain into
an important trade centre
on the way to Persia and
Mesopotamia. During the times
of the Parthians (138 BC- 171
AD) Ctesiphon in the present
Iraq was a capital of the Persian
Empire and one of the most
important political and economic
centres of the world. The
Parthian kings were very keen
to have trade with the Europe
of the day, ie between the East
and the West.
According to Robert Sharff
(1969: 101), Darius I (549-485
BC) created the largest navy
the world had thus far seen,
merchant and military combined.
During the reign of his son
Xerxes (521-456 BC) the navy
grew even larger to constitute a
world superpower. Darius made
another great achievement that
has remained a great feat down
to the present day. He ordered
that the first canal be excavated
where presently the Suez Canal
exits, and thereby reduced the
marine distance between the
Mediterranean and the Persian
Gulf, considerably.
Once again during the Sassanid
era, in the 6th century, the
Persian fleet of merchantmen
and warships became
impressively large, such that
Iran controlled, not only the
Persian Gulf and the Sea of
Oman, but the Red Sea, the
eastern coasts of the African
Continent, the Indian Ocean and
the coasts of Arabia. Persian
ships reached Ceylon (present
Sri Lanka) and from there
moved on to China and then the
first shipping line was created between Iranian and Chinese
ports which was entirely
operated by Persian pilots and
mainly manned by Persian
crews.
Now, Iranian ships sailed to
as far as the Roman ports
in the Mediterranean on the
west, and Chinese ports on the
east, carrying goods from one
port to another. The Persian
government charged taxes
and duties but spent much to
maintain and improve harbours
and ports and their facilities.
As trade developed production
of goods had to be expanded.
In Persia, the production of
textiles flourished and grew
considerably during the time of
the Sassanids. Plain fabrics and
embroidered cloths, often of silk,
products of Persia, were highly
valued all across the world.
Later, after the advent of Islam,
Iran1, as a part of the Islamic
Empire (637 AD onwards),
continued to supply textiles for
the people of the empire and
for exports beyond. Europe
became acquainted with Iranian
textiles through the contacts
between the Crusaders and
the Moslems. However, by now
trade between Iran and the
rest of the world had subsided
considerably.
By the time the Safavids came
to power and once again
created a mighty empire that
rivalled with the Ottomans, the
Portuguese and the British had
reached the Persian Gulf and
controlled the shipping in the
region. They also controlled
trade and at the same time
helped develop trade between
the East and the West.
First, there were the Portuguese
who took over both Qeshm
and Hormoz islands and built
fortresses on both. They were
defeated by the valiant Iranian
general, Allahverdi Khan,
assisted by a number of British
vessels.
Later, the British
established themselves in the
southern parts of Iran and
almost controlled trade between
Iran and the outside world.
Then, late 18th century, they
were given official concession
by Karim Khan Zand for trade in
the south. From then onwards
the British presence in Iran
became stronger and stronger.
The chiefs of the tribes living
south of the Persian Gulf, which
were under Iranian domination
thus far, signed treaties with
the British in 1820 and became
British Protectorates, thus
further strengthening the British
influence in the region.
In the 20th century a number of
independent states emerged
to the south of the Persian
Gulf (Dubai 1912, Abu Dhabi
1928, Ajman 1928, and Sharjah
1951). During all this time, Iran
had remained an observer,
especially during the reign of
the Qajars when Iran became
weaker and weaker.
Following the Second World
War, Iran’s position in the
Persian Gulf changed drastically
and Iran’s naval force began to
turn into a power in the region,
which actually happened by the
1970s.
By this time the merchant fleet
had also developed and the
ports of Bushehr, Bandar Abbas,
Khorramshahr and Bandar
Shahpour (presently Bandar
Imam Khomeini) became
prominent international ports.
Increasing revenues from oil
exports allowed Iran and the
states south of the Persian Gulf
to import considerable quantities
of goods both for consumption
and for investment towards
development. The Persian
Gulf thus became an important
region with respect to trade.
The idea of a “free zone” was
first put forward in the region when, in 1962, Dubai decided
to establish one. Then, in the
1960s, Iranian authorities talked
of the possibility of a free zone
in the south of the country,
in Khorramshahr or Bandar
Abbas. In 1968 Iran decided to
establish a free touristic zone
on Kish Island which project
was commenced in 1971 and its
first phase was completed and
began to be used in 1976.
After the Islamic Revolution the
idea of a free trade zone was
forgotten, and the Kish project,
like many others, was almost
abandoned as the authorities
had other, far more serious
matters, such as the war with
Iraq, on their minds.
However, the staggering
success of Jebel Ali Free Zone
in Dubai attracted the attention
of many developing nations
including Iran. So, as soon as
the war with Iraq came to its
end, free zones were created on
Kish and Qeshm islands and at
the port of Chabahar. Besides
these three main free zones, 19
special economic zones were
also created including a number
of “border markets”. All these
were aimed at creating positive
economic relations with the
outside world, the neighboring
countries in particular.
Among the three free zones,
Qeshm has lately been
developing relatively rapidly as
compared with the other two
and this rapid development is
owed to its strategic position
and its other potentials:
1- Qeshm lies within one of the
most important trade
corridors of the world, at the
threshold of the Persian
Gulf, lying between Iran, the
Emirates and Oman.
2- The Island itself has
considerable fossil energy
resources in the form of
natural gas, and is also close
to much larger gas fields.
3- It has large deposits of salt,
lime and marl and is close
to iron ore deposits in
Hormozgan Province.
4- The seas surrounding the
Island are deep enough to
allow the creation of ports
that can receive large ships
with large drafts.
5- As many as five ships per
hour (one every 12 minutes)
pass by the Island. This
makes the Island an ideal
spot for supplying fuel to sea
vessels.
6- Qeshm offers beautiful
sights, lovely birds and on
the whole a unique nature
that could attract and
fascinate many visitors.
These and many other reasons
make the Island ideal as a
free trade and industrial zone.
It is particularly suited for
petrochemical plants and high
energy consumption production
units.
Within the last few years
Khorramshahr and Abadan have
also been designated as free
zones lying at the extreme west
of the Persian Gulf.
These free zones can help
enormously in developing
trade among the states that lie
on the Persian Gulf and even
the Sea of Oman. Iran has
always been the provider of
many products to these states
and importer of many others
through re-exports from them.
Today, it is in a position to
supply a wide range of goods,
from fruits and vegetables,
to clothings, medicines,
automotives including tires,…
And the free zones can play a
very effective role in bringing
goods from these states to Iran,
and in housing joint venture
companies and joint economic
and industrial entities created by
Iran and these states.
1- The writer prefers to keep the name
Persia for pre-Islamic Iran, and to use the
term Iran for its post-Islamic era. 
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